Ljubljana became the UNESCO City of literature

Ljubljana received the prestigious title of City of Literature by UNESCO. The title is awarded to cities with rich literary heritage and vibrant contemporary literary scene. In addition to Ljubljana, which was also the World Book Capital 2010, the title was awarded to 15 other cities across the world.

Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, pointed out that the UNESCO network of creative cities is a perfect confirmation that the culture empowers sustainable development and added that the newly designated enriched the network significantly.

In its bid for the acquisition of this title Ljubljana committed itself to continue its efforts in supporting the city's thriving literary scene. Ljubljana is a city where the culture of reading is strongly established, as shown by the number of public libraries and citizen enrolled in them. The city supports a series of events related to books and reading, among them Slovenian Book Days, Slovenian Book Fair, Library under the Treetops etc. Ljubljana's plans for the future include setting up a new literary center, its continued support of the literary festival featuring acclaimed foreign and domestic authors and establishing of a new children's book festival.

Besides Ljubljana, the title of UNESCO City of Literature was also awarded to Ulyanovsk (Russia), Baghdad (Iraq), Tartu (Estonia), Lvov (Ukraine), Barcelona (Spain), Nottingham (United Kingdom), Obidos (Portugal) and Montevideo (Uruguay) .

For more information visit the website of Edinburgh, the first UNESCO city of literature.